The Criminal
by Zan1781
Summary: What happens when a crime is committed in Nick's very own neighborhood? The case of the broken truck. One shot, complete.


Title: The Criminal

Disclaimer: I own no part of CSI or its characters

"But… I don't understand!" Kevin whined, stamping his foot on the ground as his brother rode his bicycle up and down the driveway. "Why can't I, Davy?" he asked, almost in tears.

"Because you're five, and you're still a baby," his older brother told him. "And I'm fourteen, and my friends don't want to hang around with babies..." he trailed off, as he hunkered down over his handlebars, pedaling as quickly as possible towards the end of the driveway, and circling around once again. For the past fifteen minutes, Davy and his two friends had been riding their bikes in the driveway and the road, for the most part ignoring Kevin.

"But I'm not a baby…" Kevin sniffled, holding a transformer in one hand, and his toy fire truck in the other. "You can play with my truck…" he said, holding up his favorite toy as an offering to his brother.

Davy just laughed. "No thanks, Dork. Go play in the sandbox or something," he told his brother, as he made another circle with his bike, once again turning his bike towards the street.

Kevin, trying not to cry in front of his brother, turned on his heel, and slowly walked towards the front door of his house. His head down as he walked, he wiped away some of his tears with the back of his hand. He just wanted to play with his brother… why wouldn't he let him? "I'm not a baby. I'm not," Kevin whispered to himself, entering the house.

Sitting down in the middle of the living room floor, Kevin turned the television on. "Rugrats," he said with a small smile, hiccupping. Pushing his truck along the floor, Kevin sighed, as he saw his brother and his two friends riding their bikes up and down the street. It wasn't fair… it just wasn't.

At that moment, the front doorbell rang. Running to peek out the window, Kevin's face lit up in a huge grin, as he saw his neighbor, Nick Stokes, standing there. "Hey little man!" Nick warmly said, as Kevin opened up the door. "How's it going?"

"Okay, Nick," Kevin replied. "But Davy won't let me play with him again, and I'm sad," he told his friend matter-of-factly.

"Aww, big brothers can be mean," Nick said, kneeling down in front of Kevin and ruffling his hair. "But that's okay. That's what big neighbor friends are for," he told him, walking into the house. "But first, where's your mom and dad, Kev?"

"In the backyard. Doing something with the dirt…" Kevin told him, looking up at Nick with his deep, blue eyes.

"I'll be right back, okay, Buddy?" Nick asked, as he headed towards the back of the house to speak with his neighbors. Minutes later, Nick returned, only to plop himself down in front of the television set with Kevin. "Rugrats? Good stuff!" he smiled, once again ruffling the little boy's hair. "Okay… so what do we have here?" he then asked, picking up a transformer and examining it. It had been years since he had last seen that particular brand of toy, and he had to admit, they were kind of fun to play with.

"My transformers are the firemen," Kevin told Nick, proudly handing him the truck. "See? They ride in there," he explained, pointing to the driver's seat, "And then they fight fires when they happen…" he added, wheeling the truck towards Nick.

"Very cool, little man," Nick replied. "So should we put out some fires, then?" he asked. "And save the city?"

Kevin grinned, as he nodded that they should.

Twenty minutes later, Nick stood up, stretching. "Alright, Buddy, I've got to go to work, okay?" he asked. "Come see me tomorrow, and we'll play some more?" he asked with a smile, patting Kevin's shoulder.

Kevin flashed Nick his own smile, as he watched his "friend" jog back to his own house.

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"Come on, Goren!" Nick said, shoveling a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "Are you guys going to let them get away with that?" he asked the fictional Law and Order: Criminal Intent characters. "Go get them!" he cheered them on, taking a sip of soda. The show had ten more minutes to go, and Nick was anxious to see how Goren and Eames were planning on tricking the killer into admitting that he committed the crime.

At that moment, however, the doorbell rang. "You've gotta be kidding me!" Nick sighed, standing up but not leaving the living room. "Aww, man!" he repeated, as the doorbell rang again. Setting his popcorn aside, Nick frowned, thankful that the episode was actually on tape.

Looking out the window next to the door, Nick's frown deepened, as he noticed Kevin standing there, in tears. "What's wrong, Buddy?" Nick asked, quickly opening the door for his little neighbor. Kevin sobbed, trying to run into Nick's arms. Holding up his favorite fire truck to Nick, Kevin cried, the tears streaming down his cheeks. "What happened to it?" Nick asked, setting it aside and hugging Kevin.

"I don't know…" Kevin whispered. "I came home from dinner—Daddy took me to McDonalds—and I found it on the floor of my room…I left it on my dresser, but…" he sighed, upset that someone had broken his favorite toy.

Nick nodded, completely forgetting about the rest of his television show. Goren wasn't real… and Kevin's emotions were. "C'mon in," he told the little boy, picking the fire truck up with one hand. "Can you get another one?" he asked.

Kevin shook his head no, once again sobbing. "It was a present from my Uncle," he told Nick, "And… I'll never have another one like it. I want to know what happened to it," he cried, reaching up and grabbing the bottom of Nick's shirt. "I bet Davy did it… he hates me…" Kevin said with another small hiccup, and more tears.

Nick sighed. He highly doubted that Davy broke the toy… at least not on purpose. Kevin had said that it was in his room, right? Nick knew that Kevin had always been an emotional kid, but… crying over a toy? "Well…" he eventually said, gently rubbing the little boy's back. "I have an idea…" he whispered, kneeling down in front of him. Kevin put his thumb in his mouth, and looked up at Nick. "How about we figure out what happened?"

"How…?" Kevin asked, his tears starting to subside. Wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve, Kevin watched Nick as Nick moved around his kitchen.

"I'm a criminalist, remember?" Nick asked. "Kind of like a detective," he said with a smile. "So let's see what we can do."

"Oh yeah…" Kevin said, brightening, as he climbed up on one of the kitchen tables. "What is that stuff?" he asked Nick, scrunching up his nose as Nick took his field kit down from the counter.

Rummaging through the kit, Nick grinned. "This, my little friend, is what I use to do my job. Kind of like a fireperson uses a hose, and a ladder, and a dog. These are my tools," he explained, as he pulled out a small jar full of powder. "Here. Hold this glass," Nick instructed Kevin, who did as he was told. "Ready?" he then asked, as Kevin sat up, and intently watched Nick. Using the powder and the accompanying brush, Nick showed Kevin how the fingerprint "magically" appeared. "See?" he asked.

Kevin's eyes lit up. "So… how can we find out what happened to my fire truck?" he asked.

"Easily… we'll dust the truck for prints, and see what shows up…" Nick explained. "But, can you be a secret detective?" he then asked. "Because we're going to need other fingerprints to match them to…"

"Yeah, I can!" Kevin excitedly said. "What do I have to do?"

"Well…" Nick mused, scratching his chin. "We need something that every member of your family touched… a glass… or a brush… something hard," he told the little boy, who was having a difficult time containing his enthusiasm.

"I'll be right back, Nick!" Kevin said, jumping off of the chair.

"Whoa, hold on a second! You need these," Nick said, putting a spare CSI hat on Kevin's head, and handing him a pair of gloves. "We don't want to mix the prints up, right? And now you're all official," he added, as Kevin threw him a big grin, and ran out the door.

With a laugh, Nick sat down at the kitchen table, waiting for the boy to return. A part of him hoped that this wasn't a mistake. He didn't want Kevin to blame anyone for breaking his toy, but…science was fun, and this would give him something to do.

Thirty minutes later, Kevin returned, holding three glasses in his gloved hands. "I got them all to drink something… from three different looking glasses," he proudly told Nick. "Will this work?" he then asked, showing him which glass his mother, father, and brother all used.

"Uh-huh," Nick smiled, as he handed the brush to Kevin. "Dip it in the powder," he instructed, "And then just kind of… wiggle your hand against the glass."

Kevin stuck his tongue out of his mouth, trying to concentrate on the task at hand. "Like… this?" he asked, as a partial print started to appear.

"Yup, just like that," Nick told him with a smile. "Good job!" he added, as Kevin dusted the other two glasses.

Taking the brush from the little boy, Nick then began to dust the truck for prints… not ideal for an object with odd angles, but… this wasn't an "official" case, right? "There we go," Nick squinted, as he took a look at the prints. Lining the glasses up in front of himself and Kevin, he took a seat at the table. "What do you see?" he asked the little boy.

"Uh… this one looks like me…" Kevin said, concentrating. "And… so does this one… and this one… and this one…" he went on, trying to compare the prints to the ones on the glasses. "But… what is this?" he then asked Nick.

Nick leaned closer to the fire truck, examining the odd print that Kevin had discovered. "I… don't know…" he finally said, thinking about it. The print was one big circle, with a smaller circle stuck in the middle of it. Suddenly, Nick's face broke out into a huge smile, and he started to laugh.

"What is it, Nick?" Kevin asked, his own eyes getting wider. "Why are you laughing?"

"I think I know what happened…" Nick smiled. "Come with me," he added, as he grabbed his kit, the fire truck, Kevin's hand, and a glossy piece of paper. Walking back to Kevin's house, Nick rang the doorbell, smiling. "Good afternoon, Debra," he said, holding up his gear. "Kevin told me about his truck, so… we've been investigating. Do you mind if we come in for a moment?"

"No, of course I don't mind," Debra said with a smile, smoothing out her son's hair. "What can I do for you, Nick?"

Looking around the living room, Nick saw what he was looking for. "Can we… borrow Mr. Fluffy?" he asked, as he and Kevin tried to sneak up on the cat. Mr. Fluffy yawned and stretched, purring. "This won't hurt a bit, Mr. Fluffy," Nick said, as he gently knelt down beside the white cat, pressing the piece of paper to his nose.

"What are you doing, Nick?" Kevin asked with interest, as he crouched down next to Nick, his mother standing further back, also intrigued.

"Testing a theory, my young friend. Testing a theory," he repeated, as he used his kit to make the nose print appear. Laughing, he said, "I think I know what happened. Let me play it for you, Kev…" he said, as he looked up at the ceiling.

"_After I left your house yesterday, you ran to your room, still angry that your brother wouldn't let you play with him and his friends. Placing your fire truck on the dresser next to your bed, you quietly played on the floor with one of your other toys. When your dad called you downstairs for dinner, you ran out of your room, leaving the door wide open, and the truck on your dresser._

_And that's when it happened._

"What happened, Nick?" Kevin interrupted.

"I'm getting there! Hold your horses!" Nick said with a laugh.

"_That's when it happened. Mr. Fluffy walked into your room, and jumped on your dresser, as all cats will do. Sniffing around for something fun to play with, Mr. Fluffy batted at a pen, before seeing your transformer's head sticking out of the driver's seat of the fire truck. Sniffing the truck, and pressing his nose against the toy, he began to hit the transformer, slowly moving the truck closer to the edge of the dresser. Mr. Fluffy accidentally broke your truck, while trying to play. He knocked it right off of the dresser, leaving it in pieces."_

"No way!" Kevin said, his eyes once again wide.

"I think so, Buddy. I think that's your cat's nose impression," he told him, showing him the piece of paper and the print on the truck.

Kevin just laughed. "Mom?" he asked. "I want to be a crimin…criminal when I grow up."

"Uh… criminalist," Nick grinned.

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_Finis _


End file.
